[HPforGrownups] Harry's Fairy Godmother and the ancient magic protecting him

[stephanie howeth]

No: HPFGUIDX 41561

 
  alhewison <Ali at zymurgy.org> wrote: 
>>>>>>>>>Whilst it has not been conclusively confirmed that Harry's babysitter 
is the Arabella Figg of the "Old Crowd". I believe that she is. I 
have read other theories that Mrs Figg might be Arabella's mother. 
Although this is possible – JKR's "Well Spotted" confirmation of the 
link is not conclusive, I find it unlikely. The shock value for Harry 
of his babysitter being one of the old crowd, specifically overseeing 
him will be strong, and needs no further family complications.

Mrs Figg's role in Harry's early life is intriguing. I believe her to 
be part of the layers protecting Harry. I like the theory that she is 
Harry's actual Godmother –perhaps Lily's best friend to mirror 
Sirius' relationship with James. I suspect that she is a contemporary 
of Lily's, taking an ageing potion (the cabbage-like smell in her 
house certainly seems to be some kind of foreshadowing). But she 
hardly conforms to the role of "Fairy Godmother". Quite the opposite. 
Harry hates going to her house. He is relieved that he can't go to 
her after she breaks her leg, before knowing where he will go. This 
suggests to me that he prefers being with even the Dursleys to Mrs 
Figg. Rather than giving him treats and the love or even comfort that 
he lacks at home, she bores him with pictures of cats*. When he 
thinks that she "wasn't as bad as usual" she allows him to watch TV 
and gives him ancient cake. Hardly pampering.<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<



I believe Arabella is a part of what is protecting Harry as well, but I have a different point on why she treats him like she does.  The Dursleys do not want Harry to be happy in any way, so they would never send him to a place that he wants to go for babysitting.  If he was excited about going to Mrs. Figg's, then the Dursleys would never allow him to continue to go there, since they want to keep him as downtrodden as possible.  I believe that Arabella acts like she does to ensure the Dursleys keep him coming over.  They have to believe that she is an old lady with similar attitudes to their own who just tollerates the boy, or they would never trust her.  I think when we see Arabella again, Harry will be surprised at how nicely she treats him, when she is not incognito.

Alisa (this is my first post, I hope I did it right!)


 



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